Massive Faith Questionaire

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Blame Lauren and Pisco for this:

Everyone:

1. What is your general religious background? Cathepiscobaptilutheran.

2. Have you read the Bible in its entirety? I probably have come close if I haven’t already.

3. Do you think it is absolutely necessary for a Christian to have read the entire Bible? Why?Â? I think every Christian should but I think it’s a lifetime goal kind of thing.

4. Do you think it is necessary for a Christian to memorize scriptures? Why? I think one should know key verses and what they say as a means of apologetics.

5. Do you personally enjoy the New Testament or Old Testament more? There are parts of both that I enjoy though I have to admit that I’m much more familiar with the New Testament.

Christians: (Your questions are hard; I am such a mean person. Good luck.)

1. What branch and/or denomination do you affiliate yourself with? ELCA — Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (the hippie Lutherans)

2. Do you regularly memorize Scripture? Depends on the Scripture

â???? Do you memorize well-known verses or anything at all?Â? Yes… if only because I used to force my Confirmation kids to do it.

3. Are you familiar enough with the Bible to find something if you need to, or point someone to what they need?Â? I’m so good that parishioners just stare at me.

4. Do you know the general differences between orthodox and evangelical Christianity? (I use the terms fairly loosely in this context, but Protestant vs. Roman Catholic, or Non-denominational vs. mainstream Protestant, for example.)Â? I know them intimately enough to nitpick when one tries to kvetch about how the other isn’t Christian enough.

5. Are you familiar with scriptural texts that may not be included in your personal Bible? (i.e. apocryphal or deuterocanonical books.)Â? Probably not as familiar as I should be, given my theological education.

â???? Should they be in your Bible?Â? Yes.

â???? Did you know the criteria for Biblical canon centered around two main categoriesâ???? whether the book was inspired by God or whether it was useful to the church? So, in theory, some books may have been inspired by God, but were found useless, so not included in canon. Does this fact bother you?Â? In terms of the Apocrypha, no.Â? In terms of the Gnostic gospels, I feel that they didn’t pass the litmus test because the Holy Spirit hasn’t used them for the last 1950 years to enlighten and guide the church, not to mention many of them have some doctrinal issues.

6. Do you trust that your personal Bible is sufficient for study, either based upon translation, or based upon trusting the people who put together canon? (If youâ????re Protestant, you have less books than Catholic or Eastern Orthodox churches. Do you trust that? If youâ????re Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant, you have books in your Bible that were not accepted by the early church. Do you trust this?)Â? I do.Â? Again, my belief is that the Holy Spirit has used the canon to guide and illuminate the Church for 1950 years and I can deal with that.

â???? Letâ????s use Luther as a symbol for a moment. Luther was key to the Protestant Reformation and is credited as a symbol of Protestantism today. He, along with others, changed the Church. Luther questioned the authenticity of Hebrews, (absolutely crucial toward understanding current evangelical belief system) James, Jude and Revelations, probably because they were not accepted as canon by the early church. What do you think of this?Â? That he was trying to be faithful and discern what was necessary and what was adiaphora.

â???? How about the fact that Luther believed in the real presence of the Eucharist/Communion/Lordâ????s Supper? (And much of Protestantism does not.)Â? Given that the Lutheran Church did not magically descend from heaven in 1517 and we have a history with the ROMAN Church (sorry… I’m a small “c” Catholic because I’m all about the universal Church of Christ on earth), I’m chill that he believed that.Â? Luther was originally a Catholic priest and he DID pray the rosary daily.

7. Do you know the differences between modern English translations of the Bible?Â? Enough to nitpick.Â? 🙂

â???? What translation(s) of the Bible do you use?Â? It depends on what I’m doing.Â? To read Psalms, I love the KJV.Â? For most Scripture quotes, I use the NKJV or the NASB.Â? The Bible I have for study is the NRSV that I have left over from seminary.

8. Do you participate in liturgy? What do you think of Church Tradition compared to Scripture?Â? I LOVE liturgy and wish that Jon’s current parish was more liturgical.Â? Given that all parts of liturgy are based on Scripture and said Church tradition refers to the Didache which is seriously EARLY Church, I’m down with it.Â?Â? With regard to tradition, it depends on what the background of the tradition is.

9. Do you believe Christians today should study Church history?Â? YES –Â? both Eastern and Western Church History.Â? (Can you tell that I’m a Church historian at heart?)

Redux on the Installation of Bishop Jessica Crist: The Good, the Bad, and the Ecumenical

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We just got home from Great Falls where we attended the installation of the new Lutheran bishop.? So… here’s the redux:

The Good
[-] the music — HEAVENLY and with appropriate brass on “Thine Is The Glory.”
[-] at LEAST 150 clergy in the procession.
[-] getting to schmooze with those who I wanted to see afterwards.
[-] seeing President Ramseth again and explaining that I’m using my Trinity education to teach Greek and Bible to inmates at the local prison.
[-] the good natured teasing from the pastors who were at FLBC with me during my adventures in yellowjacket stings
[-] the lovely lunch afterwards with Jon (we skipped the reception)
[-]$tarbucks after lunch

The Bad
[-] inclusivized hymns *dopeslaps those who changed words on “Let All Things Now Living”*
[-] inclusivized liturgy.
[-] the canned parts of the Presiding Bishop’s sermon as well as the parts which sounded like they were plagarized from an LDS fireside chat on evangelism.
[-] the fact that with 300ish people, it was bloody hot in the sanctuary.
[-] molasses bread for communion (I will *NEVER* get used to it)

The Ecumenical
[-] the Episcopal bishop coming in full ecclesiastical regalia. (I thought he was Catholic as I’d never seen a Piskie bishop in full regalia.? It finally hit me after I saw him take communion.)
[-] the service being held at the largest CATHOLIC church in Great Falls because no Lutheran churches were big enough.
[-] the vicar general/pastoral administrator of the Diocese of Great Falls/Billings offering greetings and reading the Gospel
[-] the number of clergy from other backgrounds who were there and in the procession.
[-] two members of the Jewish community taking part in the service (one offering greetings and one reading the first lesson).
[-] the Assinibone leader who gave a blessing in his native language before the service began as well as a tribal song before the blessing at the end.? (Montana has a huge Native American population and it was fitting that there be some aspect of that present at the service.? It was tastefully incorporated.)

The one sadness I have is that I don’t know that many people in Jon’s parish would have appreciated the diversity of people and faiths present.? Some asked incredulously why we were holding the installation in a Catholic church and others would have claimed worship was “too formal” or “too Catholic”. ? I’m really hoping that it’s something that can change with Bishop Jessica though I hate to say that I’m not holding my breath.

Going to the V-E-T

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I start work next Tuesday so I’ve been trying to get my life in order.Â? I saw my doc yesterday regarding my bloodwork and this morning, I took the eldest three of my Awesome Pawsome to the v-e-t.Â? (Freya is sitting next to me so I need to spell these things out.)

I cleaned their carriers yesterday and put fresh blankets in for linings.Â? Cullen got his kitten blanket, Finian got a soft blue one, and Edda got a couple fleece pillowcases.Â? I stored them in the guestroom and planned to just get the three up onto the 2nd floor so that I didn’t have to go under beds to get them or move furniture.

Well… I got Finian crated first and it was the normal challenge with him.Â? He fought tooth and claw and was headbutting the crate door as I was closing it.Â? Then… the HOWLING began, which unfortunately tipped Cullen off to something he wouldn’t like.Â? Mr. Stripes (Cullen) was fairly easy to get into his crate and the Edda Puss went in without a problem.

Well… we had a three-part harmony of HOWLING going on as we drove to the vet.Â? About 10 miles into the drive, someone used their carrier as a commode (we found out later that it was Edda) so we also had that smell to contend with.Â? We got there and the vet had us bring them in one at a time.Â? He wanted to start with the dirty carrier cat (which I thought was Cullen as he’s done this before) so we brought Cullen in.Â? He did not want to come out so we took his carrier apart (removed the screws holding it together) and lifted the top off.Â? His weight ended up being 13 lbs (meaning that FREYA is heavier — we might want to talk D-I-E-T for her) and he either smooshed up into my right armpit or the vet tech’s left armpit.Â? (We had a tech who loved up my babies which was good.)Â? He had to have his ears cleaned of lots of wax which was unpleasant for him and made want to scratch them.Â? (One of his hind paws was thumping.)Â? He behaved like a perfect gentleman for his shots and when we finished, we put him on the bottom half of his carrier and he curled up in a ball in the back while we screwed the top back on.

Next was Edda (I sniffed carriers and hers was the dirty one) so we got her in and I got her out so the vet tech could go clean up the lining as well as the carrier.Â? (We were most appreciative.)Â? She did NOT like the cold table so after we got her weighed (a hair over 9 lbs — she’s a petite little one), I held her while the vet cleaned her ears and gave her shots.Â? She just melted in my arms and was chill as long as I or the vet were holding her.Â? She was VERY happy to get back into her carrier.

Last was Finian who was an inert fluffy pillow the whole time.Â? He did have to have his ears cleaned but was chill about it and even sat still to be weighed (11ish lbs).Â? We didn’t try to pull him out of the carrier — his has a lid that snaps off so we just snapped it off, something that was VASTLY easier than dealing with the screws.Â? He had the beginnings of an abcess on his chin which the vet had to scrape off, causing Mr. Fluffybutt to hiss.Â? He also had his teeth checked (another hissing fit) and had his teeth pronounced excellent.Â? He behaved himself for his shots and was a good boy in every other regard.

The bill ended up being about $35 per cat (we apparently were only charged for the vaccinations — SCORE!) and after getting everyone loaded into the car, we did some brief errands (I ran in while Jon stayed with the babies) and then picked up my car which was having the oil pan fixed.Â? I got them home and they BOLTED from their carriers.Â? (They had been mostly quiet on the way home except for some conversation from Edda who was watching her surroundings and then the HOWLS when we got near the parsonage.

So far, everyone is doing OK.Â? Freya was happy to have some quiet time while her siblings were at the vet and while they’re quieter, nobody seems to be too sick from their shots.Â? I just gave tummy rubs to the studly beastlings on the bed and I’ll go snuggle with the Edda when I finish this post.

What’s Wrong With This Picture???

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I finally got around to watching one of the “God’s Warriors” specials that I DVR’ed last month.Â? It was the Christian one and I found it horribly lacking in spectrum when referring to evangelical Christianity.Â? For one, it showed mostly Jerry Falwell and his minions who are trying to re-structure the Supreme Court.Â? To her benefit, Christiane Amanpour *DID* interview Jimmy Carter who *IS* one of the most visible Christians today and who has done immeasurably more out of office than in.

I think the thing that irritated me most was the failure of everyone shown to understand that the Gospel and bringing about the kingdom doesn’t involve getting one political party to dominate the government.Â? I know that Jesus wasn’t about all that and that the Son of God does not belong to either major political party.Â? Instead, I think Jesus would have been all about the work of groups like International Justice Mission,Â? ModestNeeds.Org, Kiva, and Lutheran World Relief.Â? In fact, the social justice plank of the Democrats’ platform resembles more of what Jesus wanted.

How do I know that Jesus wouldn’t have been rarin’ to go for the morals and the changing of the court?Â? Because that’s not what He fought for in his lifetime.Â? He healed the sick, cured the lame, and gave the outcast some standing.Â? Oh yes… let’s not forget that the Israelites were exiled back in the day because they focused on being so perfectly right while ignoring the commands to take care of the widow and orphan.

It just makes me sick to see people like James Dobson railing about the immorality of this country while ignoring the fact that there are people starving and dying in the world.Â? Why didn’t we hear massive pleas from all the talking heads to contribute to aid funds for the earthquakes in Peru?Â? Is it because they’re all poor and not on the radar of Dr. Dobson and others in the “moral majority”?Â? What is so freaking moral about a bunch of men who ignore the sick and dying in order to pontificate about what they believe???

Jesus, please save me from some of your followers!

Football

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Bad Michigan!Â? Bad!Â? App State should have been a joke instead of a rival!!!

The only one of MY teams to win this week was the University of Washington. Go Huskies!Â? (They kicked the crap out of Syracuse.)